MY BROTHER
By Fatima Jinnah

He slept for about two hours, undisturbed. And then he opened his
eyes, saw me, and signaled with his head and eyes for me to come .near him. He made one
last attempt and whispered, "Fati, Khuda Hafiz. ...... La Ilaha Il Allah ......
Mohammad ...... Rasul ...... Allah." His head dropped slightly to his right, his eyes
closed.

I ran out of the room, shouting, screaming, "Doctor, doctor. Be
quick. My brother is dying. Where are the Doctors?" In a few minutes they were there,
examining him and giving him injections. I stood there, motionless, speechless. Then I saw
them cover his whole body, head to foot, with a white sheet. I knew what it meant. Death
had come to take him away from this life that must end to a life which is Eternal;
Immortal.

Col. Ilahi Bux walked on heavy feet towards me, put his right palm
over my left shoulder, and wept like a little child. Those tears, in a language without
words or voice, conveyed to me the fatal news. I searched for tears, but the well where
one finds them had dried up. I wanted to scream and cry, but my voice had sunk into the
abyss of speechlessness. I dragged myself to his bed side, and flung myself like a log of
wood on the floor.

The news of his death must have spread far and wide. The huge
iron-gates of the Governor-General's House, where normally strict security measures
prevent unauthorized entry, opened themselves wide, and endless streams of peoples came
from all directions.

Soon many of them were in the room, where he lay, undisturbed, in a
sleep that was beyond awakening. I sat there, oblivious of my surroundings. I lost count
of time, I had completely lost myself in my irreparable loss.

I do not know how long I sat there, staring at the white sheet that
covered my brother's body.

But I remember that an elderly lady, whom I had never seen or known put her arms round my neck, and quietly
whispered into my ear a verse from the Holy Quran: From God he came, To God he returned.

NOTES

1. Miss Jinnah moved into Jinnah's bungalow on Malabar Hills after
the death of Ruttenbai on 20 February 1929, since when she was his constant companion.

11.The Muslim League session was held during Easter holidays, 12-15
April 1941.

12.On 12 April 1941, the first day of the session, after the welcome
address by Abdul Hameed Khan, Chairman, Reception Committee, Jinnah responded briefly,
first in Urdu and then in English. Because he was still unwell, his presidential address
was postponed to 14 April. On that day, he spoke for one hour fifty-four minutes at a
stretch, indeed a feat for a person who had suffered a nervous breakdown barely three days
before. In the procession and at the flag-hoisting ceremony on 11 April, he was deputized
by Amir Muhammad Khan, Raja of Mahmudabad, who was Treasurer of the AIML at the time. The
editor was present throughout the session. See also the account by Hasan Reyaz, Editor,

Manshoor (Delhi), the official mouthpiece of the All-India Muslim
League, in Manshoor, 17 May 1941.

Another version of the above abstract (given by Mrs. Rafia Shareef
in her article on Miss Jinnah in Freedom, Karachi, 4 March 1949) is as follows:
"During all these years of worry and hard work my sister was like a bright ray of
light and hope, whenever I came back home and met her. Anxieties would have been much
greater and my health much worse but for the restraint imposed by her. She never grudged -
she never grumbled. Let me reveal to you something that you probably do not know. There
was a time when we were face to face with a great revolution. We were ready and prepared
to face bullets and even death. She never said a word but on the contrary she encouraged
me. For solid ten years she stood by me and sustained me." 15. It should be read as
Wagah border since Wagah, and not Khokrapar, is near Lahore.

27. Ilahi Bakhsh's version of his interview with Jinnah is as
follows: `There is nothing much wrong with me," he told me, "except that I have
got stomach trouble and exhaustion due to overwork and worry. For forty years I have
worked for 14 hours a day, never knowing what disease was. However, for the last few years
I have been having annual attacks of fever and cough. My doctors in

Bombay regarded these as attacks of bronchitis, and with the usual
treatment and rest in bed, I generally recovered within a week or so. For the last year or
two, however, they have increased both in frequency and severity and are much more
exhausting."

"About three weeks ago I caught a chill and developed fever and
a cough for which the Civil Surgeon of Quetta prescribed penicillin lozenges. I have been
taking these since; my cold is better, the fever is less, but I feel very week. I don't
think there is anything organically wrong with me. The phelgin which I bring up is
probably coming from my stomach and if my stomach can be put right I will recover soon.
Many years ago I had a rather bad stomach trouble for which I consulted two or three London specialists, but they failed to
diagnose my illness, and one of them even advised operation " Ilahi Bakhsh, With the
Quaid-i-

Azam During His Last Days (Karachi: Quaid-i-Azam Academy, 1978), pp.
4-5. 28: 11ahi Bakhsh's version is as follows: ".. . . Now tell me all about it. How
long have I had this disease? What are the chances of my overcoming it? How long will the
treatment last? I should like to know everything and you must not hesitate to tell me the
whole truth." I replied that I could not give a definite opinion until I had gauged
the extent of the disease process by means of an X-ray examination but felt confident that
with the aid of the latest drugs there should be a fair chance of a considerable
improvement. What I had told him did not appear to have disturbed his composure unduly and
I was greatly impressed by the manner in which he had taken the grave news." ibid.,
p. 8.

29. Ilahi- Bakhsh's version is as follows: " For breakfast, I
allowed him porridge, half-boiled or scrambled or poached eggs, thin slices of white bread
with butter followed by coffee with plenty of milk; fruit juice at 11 O'clock; minced
chicken or steamed or boiled fish with white sauce, mashed potatoes and green peas
followed by baked custard or fruit jelly with cream for lunch; biscuits and tea in the
afternoon; and for dinner, minced chicken or grilled fish with some appetizing sauce,
mashed potatoes, green peas or boiled marrow, followed by a light pudding and coffee
" Ibid., p. 6.

30. Ilahi Bashkh's version is as follows:" While I was telling
him the grave news I watched him intently, all the time uncertain whether I had not made a
mistake. He, however, remained quite calm and all he said after I had finished was,
"Have you told Miss Jinnah?" I replied, "Yes, Sir. Since I thought it
proper to conceal the nature of the illness from you, fearing it might have an adverse
effect on you, I had to take her into confidence." The Quaid-e-Azam interrupted me
and said, "No, you shouldn't have done it. After all she is a woman." I
expressed regret for the pain caused to his sister, but explained that there had been no
other course. . .. "ibid., p.8.

31. See ibid., p. 9.
32. Ilahi Bakhsh's version is as follows: ". .. .
Downstairs in the drawing room I

met the Prime Minister, who had come to Ziarat that day with Mr.
Muhammad Ali to see the Quaid-eAzam. He anxiously enquired about the Quaid-e-Azam,
complimented me on leaving won the first round by securing the patient's confidence, and
expressed the hope that it would contribute to his recovery. He also urged me to probe
into the root cause of the persistent disease. I assured him that despite the
Quaide-Azam's serious condition there was reason to hope that if he responded to the
latest medicines which had been sent for from Karachi he might yet overcome the trouble,
and that the most hopeful feature was the patient's strong power of resistance. I was
moved by the Prime Minister's deep concern for the health of his Chief and old
comrade." Ibid, p. 11.

33. Speeches as G.G., pp. 162-63.
34. See also Ilahi Bakhsh, op, cit., pp. 14-15.
35. Ilahi Bakhsh's version is as follows: "Yes I am
glad you have brought me
here. I was caught in at Ziarat". Ibid., p. 19. 36. See also
ibid., p. 25.

37. See also ibid., p. 26.
38. Eid-ul-Fitr fell on 7 August that year. The error may
be due to the fact that Quaid-e-Azam Speaks (Karachi: Pak. Publicity, 1950?) had erroneously
placed the 'Eid message on 27 August 1948, and following this work, later publications
have repeated this error. Miss Jinnah and Mr. Allana must have obviously consulted one of
these works.

39. Speeches As G.G., p. 166. 40. Ibid., p. 165.

-l I . Ibid., p. 166.

42. Because of the error pointed out in note 38 above, Jinnah's
Independence Day message on 14 August 1948 represented his last recorded words.

From Kathiawar to Karachi

WITH the dawn of the second half of the nineteenth century, the sun
of British Raj in India was inexorably climbing towards its meridian. The foreigners who
had started their life on this subcontinent as merchants, seeking concessions, begging for
friendly and favorable treatment, had ended by becoming rulers of this country, setting up
an empire that became the most dazzling jewel in the Imperial Crown. On the surface was
the calm that precedes a storm. The alien rulers believed their civilizing mission had
sobered the fiery temper of the disgruntled and that pax Britannica had cooled down the
smoldering cinders of `native' revolt and defiance. The subterranean rumblings of hatred
against foreign rule escaped their notice, until in the year 1857 a calculated spark
ignited a mighty flame of rebellion that spread far and wide, and its enactment came to be
recorded as the first chapter in the book of India's long and tortuous struggle for
freedom from foreign domination. It was a stormy period of our history; many of our
patriots lost their lives on the battlefields, and they came to be looked upon as martyrs
in the cause of our country's freedom. It left a lasting impact on the minds of our people practically all over India.

There were, however, some parts that continued their placid life,
unconcerned about the political Gondal,conflagration a princely that State raged in all
Wahiawa around in them. the Bombay Presidency, was one such spot, the Thakur Saheb of
Gondal, in return for his unstinted loyalty to the British Crown, continued to rule in all
his splendor over his subjects. It paid him to keep the shadow of revolt against the
British out of his State, lest it should darken the glamour and glitter of his own
undisputed sway over his people. Under the protecting umbrella of the Thakur Saheb, the
people of Gondal State went about their daily round of life, undisturbed by the political
upsurge that had engulfed India.

Agriculture was the mainstay of Gondal's economy; the main crop
being cotton, wheat, jowar and bajri. Among the agricultural produce of Gondal, the one
that gave Gondal a special reputation was chillies, and even to this day Gondal chillies
are famous. This may explain the reason why in our house, in the earliest days that I can
remember, our dishes always contained plentiful sprinkling of chillies, and those of us
that found the food not strong enough to our taste, could add an additional dosage from a
plate that was always on the table containing a handful supply of chillies.

Gondal, being the capital, was the biggest town in the state; but by
far and large the people of this principality lived in countless villages, leading a
simple but contented life. Theirs was a narrow world, whose horizons remained confined
within the geographical boundaries of their State. Paneli was one such village, which had
a population of less than one thousand, around the time the 1857 rebellion was sowing the
seeds of organized political opposition to the British rule in India. In this little
village lived my grandfather, Poonja, and there had lived and died his forefathers. My grandfather was one
of the few citizens of Paneli, who was not an agriculturist. He owned a few handlooms, on
which he worked long and tiring hours and with the help of a few hired hands he produced
coarse hand-woven cotton cloth, by the sale of which he made enough money to entitle his
family to be ranked among the well-to-do families of that small village.

He had three sons, Va1ji, Nathoo and Jinnah, the last named being
his youngest son and a daughter, Manbai. Jinnah was more _dynamic and more ambitious than
his two elder brothers, and he was born around 1857, the historic year of _ the first
Indian rebellion. To his youthful and ambitious mind, Paneli appeared not only a sluggish
and sleepy village, but also a place where life revolved round the gossip of the village
bazar and the village well. He had heard that Gondal was a big city, where life was brisk
and business was big. What could he do in Paneli? The prospect of working with his two
brothers on the family handlooms did not attract him. That was too small a venture. His
eyes were set on the big city, where the spirit of adventure beckoned him.

His father gave him little cash but much advice that before he
invested his money in any business he should make a thorough study as to which would be
the best business to enter. Having an analytical and cautious mind and a meagre purse, my
father was not a man to rush into a venture in a hurry. It did not take him long to find a
few profitable lines in which he could do quick buying and selling. His flair for business
and hard work soon helped him to make sufficient profits, enabling him to add
substantially to the original capital. When he returned from Gondal to Paneli
after some months, his father was happy to find that his son had made good in a
big city. Believing as they did in the old traditional values of life, they were
afraid that temptations in Gondal might allure their youthful son and distract his
mind from a lucrative business that he had succeeded in establishing in such a short time.
Moreover they were getting on in years; their other two sons and daughter had been
married, the only parental responsibility that remained was to get their youngest son
married to a good girl, from a decent family of their own Ismaili Khoja community.

They began to search for a suitable match for him, being eager to
get him married before he left Paneli to settle down permanently to a new life in Gondal.
Their search took them outside Paneli, and in Dhaffa, a village about 10 miles from
Paneli, they _decided Mithibai, a girl from a respectable family, would be a suitable
spouse for their youngest son. The parents of the girl were approached through a
matchmaker, and they agreed to give their blessings to the proposed match. And thus my
father, Jinnah, and my mother, Mithibai, came to be married in Dhaffa around 1874.

The business of my father prospered, and he seemed to have an
assured future. Urge for hard work and ambition to do bigger and bigger business, however,
flowed in his veins. He believed in putting his shoulder to the wheel, in order to go
forward on whatever path he chose to tread. Indolence and complacency he considered as
hindrances; consecration to duty and long and laborious in order to were to succeed the
price in one life. must He considered willingly pay Gondal too small a place for his
soaring dreams and ambitions.

He heard of that big city, Bombay, which was bursting with
prosperity, where enormous fortunes were being amassed by big business families. He also
heard encouraging reports of a lesser city, Karachi, which had during the last few years
developed into an important seaport and a flourishing centre of trade. He began to ponder
in his mind whether he should migrate to Bombay or to Karachi, leaving Gondal behind for
good. While greater chances of business in Bombay tempted his mind, destiny made a
decision for him, a decision which resulted in my father and mother migrating from
Kathiawar to Karachi.

He had never seen a city as big as Karachi, although at that time
all that it could boast of was Khadda, where sailing boats daily brought big catch of fish
to be dried in the open spaces under the sun and to be stocked in fish-godowns that
littered the coast line; Kharadar which, as its name implies, was a cluster of houses,
where the saltish waters of the Arabian Sea wriggled themselves on streets, lanes and
by-lanes; Mithadar, where the sweet waters of Lyari and Malir rivers could be obtained by
digging knee-deep wells; and Saddar, where British troops had their Cantonment and
barracks. My father rented a modest two room apartment on Newnham Road in Kharadar, a
locality which was the business heart of the city. Here lived numerous business families,
some of them having come from Gujrat and Kathiawar.

The building was of stone masonry and lime mortar; its roof and
floorings being of wooden planks. The apartment taken by my father was on the first floor,
where a spacious wooden and iron balcony projected above the pavement, providing a cool
and airy place for sitting during the day and to spread a charpoy to sleep at night. The
balcony and the rooms faced West, which is the best direction in Karachi to face in order
to ensure a full blast of cool sea breeze practically throughout the year.

The young Mr. Jinnah at first found it difficult to hit upon a trade
that offered an easy opening to set up a lucrative business. He tried his hand at
different businesses by turns, and steadily went on adding to his modest pile. He seemed
to have the